While we're not 100% sure on Joe Plummer's status in Modest Mouse at the moment, we have been informed that yesterday he announced a new side project he's been working on with Dale Crover (Melvins) and Coady Willis (Melvins, Big Business).

The all-drumming project is called Hew Time, which Joe has the following to say about:

I heard Max Roach'sM'Boom 14 years ago and I've wanted to make my own version with drummers I love ever since. Dale, Coady and I carved out our own compositions built from a combination of drum kits and dozens of percussion instruments. I couldn't be prouder of the end result. Thank you for the inspiration Mr. Max Roach. It's Hew Time!

The album will be released on March 25th via Joyful Noise Recordings. The first vinyl pressing is limited to 500 hand-numbered copies on Gold & Black vinyl (which is already sold out). The second pressing is limited to 1000 copies on Gold vinyl. The tracklisting is as follows:

Modest Mouse performed their first show for 2013 in Oakland, California two nights ago. In case you missed the set list when we posted it that night, it was reported that two new songs were performed.

The titles for these two tracks have now been confirmed as Be Brave and Shit In Your Cut. Rough video of both songs has also made it's way onto YouTube and posted below. Interestingly, no other "new" material from the past two years was performed.

Eric Judy has still not surfaced, and despite not having any conflicting dates with The Shins, Joe Plummer also did not perform. Both positions, to our knowledge are still being filled in by Russell Higbee (formally of Man Man) and Modest Mouse drum tech Davey Brozowsky. Lisa Molinaro from Talkdemonic also played violin on some songs, as she has in the past year.

Tonight the band plays the main stage at Coachella. And while it was originally reported that the set might be streamed, it seems like Modest Mouse's set is one of the few that will not be. Should that change, I'm sure it will be updated here.

Be Brave

Shit In Your Cut

Thanks to TinyLaugh and McWeird007 for the set list updates and the names of the new songs.

Without trying to sound like an ungrateful fan stamping his feet and asking where that new album is (which seems to the common occurrence every time Modest Mouse makes a post on Facebook), we would like to point out that this is the longest gap so far between albums. If you don't take No One's First, And You're Next, as it's an EP and featured mostly old material.

With We Were Dead reaching this milestone, we thought we'd take this moment to recap and speculate on some of the recent activities of the band and its members, in the hopes of stirring up some discussion or perhaps someone filling us in on some news we're not aware of:

The band as a whole: After performing a mammoth 119 known shows in 2007, the performances cut to about a half of that for 2008, 2009 and 2010, before performing only 15 shows last year. This year doesn't seem to be off to anything different, with the only dates having past and set for the future being festivals.

One could be optimistic and see this as them spending more time in the studio working, or maybe they're just taking a break. I'm all for not rushing things. However with so little new material having been debuted live, I would think it's closer to the latter.

While the band has been notoriously shy from giving interviews in the past few years, when they have strangely there has been mention of a new album being practically finished, only to have the same story repeated a year later. A lot has happened since, Johnny Marr did leave the band, and who knows how that may have affected any of the material that he may have contributed to.

Even the sessions with Big Boi occurred almost one year ago, although it seems to have been made out that that was more of an experiment than anything.

So far the only new material floating around are the songs that have been performed live. The two that have had the most oration being Lampshades On Fire and Poison The Well. Another potential song is the untitled track performed at The Warfield, unofficially titled "Mexico". Lastly there is the untitled track that made an appearance at the end of the Don't Move Here episode.

Isaac Brock: Recently, apart from playing the few last minute surprise solo shows, the only other project Isaac potentially has on the go is the writing of the Queens Of Country soundtrack. Which was also announced about a year ago, and has since not been mentioned again. The film is finally due out at the end of this month, and while Isaac is still mentioned as the composer on IMDB, the lack of updates around this make me think he's no longer involved. We attempted to contact the producers of the film, but did not receive a reply. Hopefully with the release just around the corner, we should get some closure to this soon.

Jeremiah Green: The once side project busy Jeremiah, has also been quiet of late. At least perhaps quiet to news sources. After multiple World Gang releases early last year, this work seems to have slowed down since releasing that live album last June.

Eric Judy: Eric hasn't performed with the band live since 2011/07/02. Not that the band has performed that much since then. Rumours are rife that he has left the band. Personally I don't believe it, Eric does have young children, and could be taking a break from touring. We have tried to contact the band and certain members about his status, but haven't heard anything.

Jim Fairchild: Jim will be returning to perform some dates with the reunited Grandaddy. A question to maybe ask is, depending on the outcome there, will he perhaps not return should they decide to take things further?

Joe Plummer: A lot of updates lately have been revolving around Joe, now that he is with The Shins. They have a new album out as of today (coincidence?), and he will be touring full time with them. As with Jim, a question to ask, is does this mean Joe is perhaps done with his time in Modest Mouse, or when his work with The Shins calms down, will he be returning?

Pat Graham: Lastly, Pat Graham is still awesome, and we miss him and his updates on the band.

Today The Shins will be performing at the Google/YouTube SXSW Festival showcase "Live from the Lot" at 5:45 PM C. The show will also be streamed later today on YouTube, approximately one hour after the performance it seems. Check the YouTubePresents page for the start time in your area.

So, this obviously isn't a Shins fan site, but with Joe Plummer currently drumming for them this becomes slightly relevant.

The Shins announced this morning that they would be releasing a new album in March 2012, entitled Port Of Morrow, on Aural Apothecary/Columbia Records. While their press release states that James Mercer has performed the majority of the instrumentation, it is expected that Joe has performed drums on the album.

The press release also states that they will be announcing tour dates soon and that the tour will feature Joe on drums. This will probably tie up Joe for any potential touring with Modest Mouse.

Joe Plumer's side project, Mister Heavenly, has a video out for Bronx Sniper, a track off their recently released album, Out Of Love.

The video was directed by Corey Adams and Alex Craig, features quite a bit of mayhem, and is worth the watch.

Mister Heavenly has also updated their tour schedule. See them live at one of the dates below.

Board admin, MajinTrunx, also points out that these dates conflict with the upcoming Modest Mouse dates in Texas and Brazil. Meaning that Joe most likely not be performing on those dates, and that drum duties will be performed soley by Jeremiah, unless Modest Mouse get someone in to temporarily replace Joe.

As announced back in 2009, Joe Plummer is drumming for The Shins. Which hasn't meant much, as The Shins have been pretty quiet the last few years, with the exception of James Mercer playing a few solo performances with the help of Joe.

Things may change now, The Shins have announced that they will be putting out a new album next year on Mercer's Aural Apothecary label (via Columbia).

They will also be embarking on a short tour, with dates scattered over August, September and October. Mercer will be backed by Joe, Jessica Dobson, Yuuki Matthews and Richard Swift.

Mister Heavenly, the side project of Joe Plummer and members of Man Man and
The Unicorns, will be releasing their debut album, Out Of Love, on August 16
through Sub Pop.

The tracklist is as follows:

Bronx Sniper

I Am a Hologram

Charlyne

Mister Heavenly

Harm You

Reggae Pie

Pineapple Girl

Diddy Eyes

Hold My Hand

Doom Wop

Your Girl

Wise Men

You can grab the tracks "Mister Havenly" and "Pineapple Girl" from this post we did on them back in January. Sub Pop says keep your ears open for more tour dates. Joe is also expected to be performing with The Shins this summer.

UPDATE (2011/06/13): Mister Heavenly have announced a 14 date West Coast tour starting in August. Check the dates, as well as the artwork for Out Of Love, over at Consequence Of Sound.

Isaac Brock's house (and Glacial Pace headquarters) are featured in Season II, Episode 5 of "Don't Move Here".

Isaac gives a tour of his home/studio, discusses his love of taxidermy, some home renovation tips, the bands that he's signing to Glacial Pace, and how the label came to be.

The episode ends with a short, partial performance from Modest Mouse, that features an as of yet, unreleased song. No mention though if this song is old or a new one being worked on for an upcoming album. Hopefully more will be cleared up when the band starts their short tour next month, should this song make its way onto set lists.

Today
they're giving away their new single featuring the tracks "Mister Heavenly"
and "Pineapple Girl". You can listen to the first track and download
both through the Sub Pop widget below (you will need to part with your email
address for the download).

They will also be playing two gigs this weekend (featuring their December touring member,
actor Michael Cera). The first at the Lincoln Hall in Chicago tonight, January 14,
and then at the Bowery Ballroom in New York on January 16.

A profile page for 180 Degrees South on Magnolia Pictures' website has revealed the members of Ugly Casanova this time round to be: Isaac Brock, Tom Peloso, Joe Plummer, Eric Judy and Clay Jones (We're presuming Clay Jones is the same Clay Jones that worked as an engineer on We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank). Watch this promo that Brushfire records put out last night showing them recording/performing together.